“I think I played a fantastic first set,” said Nadal. “Then in the second, the conditions were so heavy. It was so difficult to serve, so there were a lot of breaks. I was able to survive there. It’s important not to get frustrated in that moment, when you have the advantage and then he breaks you back. I stayed calm. I had more chances to break again. It’s a very good victory for me and I’m very happy.”

Nadal, who won the Rio title in 2014 and made the semifinals last year, will now meet Buenos Aires runner-up Nicolas Almagro on Thursday.

“Almagro is a very difficult opponent on every surface, but especially on clay, which is his best surface. I know it’s going to be a difficult match. I will need to play at a high level to have chances. I will try.”

Buenos Aires champion Thiem also won along with David Ferrer, Fabio Fognini and Federico Delbonis.

worse weather in Rio..hopefully rafa don’t have to play 2 match per day tomorrow,he barely survive last week with extreme weather and humidity,let alone after the duel with nico..maybe they’ll go to third set here..anyway what was it with rafa nowadays?Once upon a times he was the most toughest tennis player on earth..now..when his opponent still breathing steadily..he’s the one who seems to run 100km already!

Rafa win win a few matches then he’ll lose in the semis or maybe the final. There was a time when Rafa didn’t even bother with these little 250s but now he’s struggling just to win them. It’s really sad to see a great player reduced to this…